Wallabies to be unveiled Sunday at Bridgeton city park zoo

BRIDGETON -- Two young wallabies will soon hop about their pen in the Cohanzick Zoo, animal curator Kelly Shaw said on Friday.

Matilda and Heath are half-siblings with the same father and should be on display at least part of the time Sunday.

They are known as Bennett's wallabies, smaller members of the kangaroo family and native to Australia.

They came to the zoo courtesy of the Cohanzick Zoological Society, Shaw said, from a USDA-certified farm. She said the farmer who formerly held them did not wish to be identified.

Shaw explained that the young marsupials can't be overexposed so early to vistors. They may become stressed and afraid. A pouch or other form of shelter will be on hand.

"If they're alarmed, they need to be able to jump into a pouch or a situation in which they feel secure," Shaw said.

"I think they'll be fine. We'll just do a slow introduction."

In the wild, they tend to hang around the peripherals of forests, Shaw said, while their larger cousins, the more well-known kangaroos, roam and graze on the plains.

Matilda, now nine months old, is the larger of the two. Heath is seven or eight months old and is noticeably thinner.

The two like to grapple and box gently, and both sniff curiously at visitors' shoes and may chew at one's shoe laces. They also tend to crawl upon the lap of anyone who sits nearby on the floor.

When jousting, they grab each other at or near the head. Matilda likes to nibble at her brother's ears.

Both scratch the occasional itch on the tummy or the sides with their little hand-like paws on their front legs, which are more like arms. They alternate, left and right, running their clenched paws down their torsos.

They sometimes ball their paws up into a fist.

Their larger hind legs are designed for longer hops. When they're able to increase their mobility and speed, they don't even have to use their front legs, Shaw said.

"Their tendons are built in such a way that, once they get going, it doesn't take as much effort. It's like their legs are spring-loaded," she added.

Full-grown, she said, they should reach about 30 inches to three feet in height.

As fun as they are to watch, Shaw said wallabies do not make good pets.

"They're not as trainable as domestic animals like dogs...they still have wild tendencies," she said.

For example, males especially become territorial as they mature, Shaw said.